Masked Reality
by MariaRose
Summary: This is a Marauder-era story. The story takes you through an unfamiliar character's eyes and how she views things. It starts out in the summer before her 6th year. The rating is just to be on the safe side for later chapters.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**  
  
Love. Love is a crazy thing. It can make you do the things you never thought you would ever do. Love is blind. You can't choose who you fall in love with. It could be a close friend or a worst enemy. Love can turn your whole life upside down. It can change everything you believe in. At the same time, love is a wonderful feeling. Being in love is like floating on clouds. It feels like you are the luckiest person in the world to have that special someone in your life. Someone that you can trust in. Believe in. Someone who will always be there for you. Someone who will never leave you. I say it's all bull.   
  
The saying goes, "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all." Well in my case, that was not the least bit true.  
  
Ever since I was little, I had always dreamed of my prince charming. Countless times I had imagined that he would come knocking on my door, sweep me off my feet, and we would live happily ever after. As i grew older, my dreams changed quite a bit. I realized that my life was not a fairytale and therefore, could not have the happy ending I had wished for. My opinion about love changed completely after I had my heart broken by my first love. As years went by I knew that being in love was not at all what I thought it would be. Just as I had given up hope, I found someone and truly fell in love. But there are never any happy endings.  
  
Hello, my name is Victoria Chase and this is my story...


	2. Dreams

**Chapter 1 – Dreams –**  
  
_"Victoria! No! Wait!" A shout reached my ears. I turned around to face the owner of the voice. It was a handsome boy with dark hair and hazel eyes. "Don't do this!"  
  
"I have to," I said. "It's the only way."  
  
"We will find another way!" he cried.  
  
"I'm sorry," I murmured and backed away. Turning around, I muttered something and found myself surrounded by a bright, white light. I could make out figures surrounding me as the light cleared up. Instead of standing on the stone floor I had before, I was standing in a field.  
  
"Ah, Miss Chase," said a bitter voice from behind me. "I knew you would understand."  
  
I turned around and saw only a hooded figure. From the voice, I could tell it was a man's voice. He clutched a long, wooden stick in his right hand and he extended it and pointed at me as he spoke, "So tell me, are you willing to finally join me?"  
  
"I'd rather die a thousand deaths!" I spat at him.  
  
He bent down and brought his long-fingered hand up to my face. The touch of his hand against my skin sent shivers down my spine. "Then, die, you shall." He whispered in my ear. He got up and pointed his wand at me.  
  
"Or perhaps... I shall kill your beloved friends. Would that change your mind?" He cackled evilly.  
  
"Don't you dare harm them! Don't you dare!" I screamed at him, seething with rage.  
  
"Such courage," he spoke again. "Few have talked to me that way and lived."  
  
I said nothing.  
  
"Maybe Black could change your mind..."  
  
My head snapped up.  
"And why would Black change my mind?" I asked pretending to be confused.  
  
"I know what it is you feel for him. If you want no harm to come to him, you will join me." He spoke bitterly.  
  
I gulped. Not Sirius. I knew what I had to do.  
  
"I-I will join you... Voldemort."_

I woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweat. It was another one of those dreams. I was used to these dreams by now. Ever since the end of my 4th year at Hogwarts, all summer I had been having these dreams. I didn't think they meant anything, that they were just nightmares. I hadn't told anyone except my best friend about them, though. I planned to talk to Professor Dumbledore about it when I got back to school.  
  
Sighing, I glanced at my clock. It read 5:30 a.m. I got out of bed, knowing that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep again. After I had freshened up, I looked around for my owl, Spike. He had been delivering a letter to my best friend, Lily Evans, and I thought he would've returned by now. As though reading my mind, a faint hoot sounded in the room. I turned around sharply and an injured owl on my desk. I gasped and picked it up. Spike's left wing was wounded and he carried a bloodstained letter in his beak. I gently took to paper and unfurled it.  
  
_Wellington Manner. October 13th. BEWARE!_  
  
I looked at the note, puzzled. What did this mean? Who was it from? Why was Spike injured? These questions spun in my head. This was not Lily's handwriting so that could only mean one thing. The owl was intercepted, which meant that someone knew about the dreams I had been having. I had written Lily about them in the letter. A tap on the window distracted me and I gasped. A raven was outside my window, carrying something in its mouth. Curious, I opened the window to let the bird in. It was holding a black piece of folded paper. I took the paper and opened it. A strange aroma arose and in moments, filled the room. I started feeling dizzy and everything blurred. Slowly, I fell down and everything went black.

When i woke up next, I was not in my room but on a stone floor in a dim-lighted room. Rubbing my head where I had fallen, I looked around. The room was empty except for the broken furniture scattered around. There was a small fire flickering in a old, moldy fireplace. Except for the flames, there wasn't any other source of light. Before I could do anything else, the door flung open and in walked two hooded men. I tried to look at there faces but no luck, they were completely obscure. Then, the door opened for a second time and a single hooded figure entered the room.  
  
"Leave me and Ms. Chase alone!" ordered the newcomer. The other two obediently left.  
  
I looked up at him questioningly.  
  
"Wh-where am i?" I sputtered.  
  
"That is not important..." he spoke again, in a bitter tone which was somewhat familiar to me.  
  
"Who are you?" I asked.  
  
"Silly girl!" He barked a malicious laugh. "It is I, Lord Voldemort!"  
  
"Oh," I said unperplexed. "It's just a dream."  
  
"A dream? I do not think so. This is," he moved toward me, "very much real," he finished touching my cheek.  
  
"No..." I muttered. "No, it-it's not. This is only a dream, not reality."  
  
"I can assure you, this is not a dream. Here, allow me to prove it to you," said Voldemort extending his wand and pointing at me. "_Crucio!_" The pain I felt was beyond anything I had ever felt in my life. I felt like my insides were on fire and a thousand knives were cutting through my skin. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, it stopped. I lay there, panting, unable to move. The last thing I heard was, "We will meet again..." and then, I was knocked out again.

_The rest is not going to be in Victoria's P.O.V._  
  
"Victoria, honey are you okay?" a concerned voice echoed in Victoria's head. She opened her eyes and her vision blurred. Her head was bursting with pain and her joints would not move. She groaned and saw her mum crouching over her with a confused look on her face. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up. It took all of her strength just to move her body up.  
  
"Wha-What happenend?" She asked looking around.   
  
"You passed out..." said her mum anxiously. "And well, you just woke up. What happened?"  
  
"Where's Voldemort?" Victoria asked again.  
  
"Who?" asked her mother blankly.  
  
"_Voldemort!_" Victoria said impatiently.  
  
"There wasn't anyone here. It must have been a dream."  
  
"I need to go," said Victoria quickly getting out of the bed then collapsing again as pain seared down her body. She slowly hoisted herself up.  
  
"Go where? All you need to do is rest that body. Get back in the bed. You must have over exercised and passed out!" said her mother drastically.  
  
"Mum, I really need to go. You don't understand. This is really important! I need to go see Dumbledore," Victoria snapped and trudged out the door.  
  
"Dumbledore your Headmaster, Dumbldore? Why on earth--"  
  
"Mum, please. I'll explain everything when I get back. Right now, I just need to go. Just wait here and you'll know everything when I get back," Victoria told her mother in an urgent voice.  
  
She went down to her fireplace and took a pouch that rested on top of it. She took a pinch and threw it in the fireplace. Green flames burst up from the otherwise empty bottom and Victoria stepped in it. Quickly, she said, "Hogsmeade." The flames engulfed her and her confused mother was left there, dumbstruck. She had no clue why her daughter needed to run off to her school Headmaster at 5 in the morning. Frowning, she sat down and did what her daughter told her to do. Wait.

Victoria smoothly landed on a newly-polished floor of a lively pub. Brushing herself off of any soot that fell on her, she made her way around the chatting groups of people. I hurriedly stepped outside. It was still early morning and coolness hung in the air. She briskly swept past the Three Broomsticks and down the road towards the gates of her school. She reached the gates and they automatically opened for her. She made her way down the wide grounds and shortly reached the huge oak doors. Opening them, she was greeted with startled portraits which rested on the wall.  
  
"A student? What are you doing here? It's vacation, go home and leave us alone!" a rather grumpy old man shouted from a portrait which was hung not too far from where Victoria was standing. She ignored it and kept walking towards Dumbledore's office. She reached the gargoyle, entrance to the office, and realized that she did not know the password.  
  
"Oh great!" she muttered sarcastically. Then, without warning, she started kicking the gargoyle shouting, "I am sick of these dreams and I _need_ to go talk to Dumbldore so let me go you great, ugly--"  
  
"Ms. Chase?" a voice interrupted her. She quickly turned around and found herself facing Albus Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of all time. He was standing there with a rather amused look on his face, his eyes twinkling as always. "Is there a reason that you are pounding at my door at 5 in the morning? And no less during your holidays when you should be at home enjoying yourself?"  
  
"Er, yes," replied Victoria. "I need to tell you something. It's about... Voldemort," she said the last word in a hushed voice, even though there was no one around,she felt it best to talk quietly.   
  
The amusement on Dumbledore's face was replaced by seriousness and concern. "Let's discuss this in my office. Acid Pop!" he said the password to the gargoyle and it sprang to life. They both went up to the office and got seated. Victoria told Dumbledore everything. About the dreams, the note, the meeting with Voldemort. After she was done, she was met with an eerie silence.   
  
"When exactly did you start having these dreams?" Dumbledore finally asked.  
  
"Er... I believe the first one I had was not too long before term ended." She responded.   
  
"Around the time you befriended Mr. Black, was it not?" he inquired.  
  
"W-Well, yes, actually," Victoria said slowly, frowning. _What did Sirius have to do with anything?_   
  
Dumbledore nodded in understandment. "Professor, I don't understand. What does Sirius have to do with anything?"  
  
"Ah, Ms. Chase, I cannot answer that for you. You will have to see for yourself. I cannot reveal to you to what you are blind."   
  
Victoria frowned again. What did he mean?  
  
"Did you say that you do not remember the whole dreams? That they only remain for a little while before most of them fade away?" questioned Dumbledore.  
  
"Yes... it's like someone is controlling what I see. They only want to show me what they want me to know but as soon as I figure out beyond that, it's gone. It's just... not there anymore."

"You also mentioned something about a note... what exactly did it say?" asked Dumbledore studying Victoria from behind his half-moon spectacles.   
  
"Yes. It said, 'Wellington Manor. October 13th. Beware!'" replied Victoria.  
  
"Nothing else? No mention of what is happening there?" asked Dumbledore, frowning.  
  
"No, no, that was it. What does it mean, Professor?" asked Victoria.  
  
"I am not sure. I need to speak with some people about this. Victoria, I do not want you to discuss this with anyone other than Ms. Evans and your parents. This is important," said Dumbledore carefully, "For now, take this potion. Drink it before going to sleep and you won't get these dreams. That is all I can do at the moment."  
  
Victoria nodded and took the bottle Dumbledore was offering. It was filled with a silvery substance.  
  
"Now, use this fireplace and Floo home. If I need to contact you, I will do so with the Floo Network."   
  
Victoria nodded again.  
  
"And Victoria," said Dumbledore turning her around, "Do not, I repeat, do not let Mr. Black find out about this. It's important that he doesn't find out."  
  
"About what?" asked Victoria.  
  
"The dream..." replied Dumbledore slowly.  
  
"There was no dream about Sirius," said Victoria, confusion showing on her face.   
  
Dumbledore frowned. Perhaps she had forgotten about it. She was still looking at him quizzically.  
  
"Just go, for now," said Dumbledore and exited the room.  
  
Victoria followed the same routine she had done at her house and disappeared into the flames.


End file.
